Play Misty for me
An ABT soloist finds her Prince.
By Gia Kourlas
Misty Copeland
ON YOUR TOES Copeland performs the pas de trois from Swan Lake.
Photograph: Gene Schiavone
There’s a certain video circulating on the Internet that, on the surface, has nothing to do with princes at American Ballet Theatre, but with the very Prince himself. Misty Copeland, handpicked by the Minneapolis rocker to star in his new “Crimson and Clover” video, is, of course, a soloist at ABT distinguished by her elegant rigor in classical ballets, natural affinity for more contemporary dances and, of late, a sparkling aptitude for acting. In classical ballet, black dancers are rare. Copeland, 26, is more than an inspiring performer, but one of the few examples of women who have broken the color barrier. Copeland, a recipient of a 2008 Leonore Annenberg Fellowship in the Arts, spoke about the upcoming season at ABT’s studios.
Did you apply for the Annenberg Fellowship?
No. Kevin selected dancers. I’d never heard about it before. I think this is the first year they’ve used dancers. We were allowed to choose anyone we wanted to work with. I’ve worked with Susan Jaffe a lot. Just for fun, on our time off, I worked with her on Giselle, just to have the experience. It’s a role that I’ve always wanted to do. Susan also coached me a little bit on Gulnare for Le Corsaire. I worked with Cynthia Gregory on Swan Lake; she’s such a great person. And I also have been working with an acting coach, Byam Stevens. He coached Kevin when he danced, and they’re very close friends; he also worked with Susan through most of her career. He has no dance training at all, but has developed his own method of incorporating theater and ballet and it’s been so cool to work with him. It’s not just coming from a physical-dance point of view. When I worked on Giselle, I actually got to have both of them in the studio at the same time. They worked on Giselle together when she was dancing it. It was amazing to have that.
What does it mean to go to the next level?
I worked a lot with Byam on this. He’s helped me come up with my own way of researching roles before I perform them, which is not really something I thought about before. I think it’s also because I was never really doing major roles. This is all pretty new to me. It’s just so that you’re never onstage not knowing what to do, that there’s never an empty moment where you’re waiting for the next step. So it’s about being completely prepared before you go onstage in every little moment, even if you’re just standing, having a backstory, because it will come through. It’s all still very new for me; the first role I did all of this research on was probably Gulnare when we were in London. I did a lot of thinking and I felt so comfortable and I got a lot of good feedback from Kevin and from the ballet mistresses. I hadn’t told them that I had done any of this before, so it was really nice to have them see the work that I put into it.
Tell me about Gulnare.
I was actually supposed to perform it a while back and I got injured and I’m actually really thankful that it didn’t happen then because I don’t think I was ready. I don’t think that my dancing was mature enough. I just never ever want to go onstage feeling like I’m not ready to do a part. I’d rather not do a role then be pushed out there just to say, “I’m getting this opportunity.” That’s a huge fear of mine: feeling like I’m not really capable.
What was the research process like for Gulnare?
If you read the synopsis of the ballet, Gulnare is not really a character that is talked about as far as where she comes from and how she’s different from Medora. They’re so not the same character and it always tends to be like Gulnare is in her shadow. I think that Gulnare is probably a Greek woman that comes from an incredibly wealthy background: She’s someone. She can be taken as being coy or shy, but I think she’s not at all. Medora is very flirty and much softer, and I think Gulnare should be a strong woman—she’s put in a position and she’s fighting it; she’s not scared. I love the part. Also I enjoy the adagio and the variation—I love doing big grand-allegro work.
I think that piece made people see you in another way, too—that you could act.
Definitely. I think that’s the first time Kevin saw that in me. I never had the opportunity before. When I was promoted, he let me know that was the first time when he was like, “Oh, she really has that side to her,” and I think it was when he thought I was ready. But that’s definitely a role that he brought up in telling me that I was ready for this next level.
Why is ballet so important?
I feel like there are so many other African-American dancers out there that have struggled and who look up to me. To just give up would be such a letdown.
Do you have contact with many young black dancers?
To read the entire interview go to: http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/dance/74362/american-ballet-theater-at-metropolitan-opera-misty-copeland-interview
